Indigenous rights are among the most rapidly progressing domains in international law. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted more than a decade ago, and now the task consists of implementing the rights within the state structure. While the concept of self- determination constitutes the very core of indigenous rights, it also represents the most difficult challenge to establish within the existing system of sovereign states. This thesis seeks to contribute to the discussion regarding the implementation of indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination within states. By examining the public discourse surrounding the concept of self-determination in relation to the Sami people in the Swedish political system, it’s possible to obtain a deeper understanding of the dynamics in play. The thesis focuses on analyzing the core elements of self- determination and the formulation of the perceived problems surrounding the political measures of the concept. The discourse analysis, examining the period 2006-2017, concludes that the understanding of the concept of self-determination is linked to the political status of the indigenous people, the political debate within the national assembly, the perception of possible solutions and the function of indigenous institutions.

The Saami, a Nordic indigenous people scattered over four countries, has for centuries been regarded as parts of the national populations of the countries in which they live. During the 19th century saami demands for greater influence resulted en several changes, among them the founding of a Swedish Saami Council in 1993. The council became a popularly elected, representative institution with an agenda of its own, but also a public authority answerable to the government. The decision to attribute the council this twofold role was unusual and, from a certain point of view, even controversial: it makes it difficult to determine the location of the power to act in saami-related issues and the legitimacy to do so. This essay is about how the twofold role came into existence, what it leads to and how the seemingly contradictive duality is managed. It has an institutional approach with theories concerning institutions and etnicity as well as institutional change and handling of complicated and ambiguous demands. Among the theorists are Karppi, Micheletti, Jacobsson and Sahlin-Andersson. The previous two treat the possibilities and the shortcomings of the multicultural democracy. The later deals among other things with decision making and with changes in politics and public administration. The council was presented as the main solution of the problem that the Saami felt a lack of influence. However it was not welcomed by all main Saami figures. The founding of a council with a twofold role can be explained by governmental pressure at the time for a Saami Council working on governmental terms. This essay emphazises the efforts of the state to meet Saami demands without losing influence over a group long seen as a part of the national population. It is my opinion that the case of the Saami Council is an example of the difficulties in the multicultural democracy. It is problematic when a group is “given” an institution by the state, among other things because it may undermine the possibilities for the group to raise objections in future conflicts. An arena attracting attention to an indigenous people in the national politics in the way the Saami Council does is, however, of great value for the Saami. It is truly a political success resulting in a new conception of the Saami and sprung from international change and a growing urge to question the legitimacy of national borders, but also from the propagation of the concept of Sápmi. One of its consequences is critique of the twofold role and suggestions of other ways to solve the situation, not only from the Saami but also from others, e. g. a governmental report. While waiting for such changes, the members of the Saami Council have created shared frameworks of interpretation and chosen to handle the twofold role by putting stress on the popularly elected part. The structure of the Saami Council is studied through legal and other formal sources and through articles and litterature commenting the results of the structure. The results are contributions to the knowledge of the Saami political state in the Swedish society and to the knowledge of the Saami Council – a young institution harbouring many possibilities for future change. They are also ment to add to the understanding of the functioning of institutions with a built-in duality.

This thesis explores a period in Northern Sweden when contacts between Sami and non-Sami became more frequent as the colonisation progressed. The investigated period is 1722-1895 and eight parishes in northern Sweden are under study. Both the northern as well as the southern Sami area are represented. The main purpose of the thesis is thus to see whether the cultural meeting between Sami and non-Sami affected the way people chose to make significant decisions. In this study these cultural meetings are represented by the way people married.      To understand the consequences of cultural contacts, where individuals from different backgrounds meet, concepts developed within the field of acculturation theories are used. The marriage patterns among the inhabitants are viewed with regard to three key variables founded by Ruth Dixon, as these help to explain changes or continuations in the individuals’ marital behaviour.      The southern Sami area seamed to be rather unaffected by the colonisation process, at least according to the marriage pattern. The analysis revealed limited economic openings for marriage as well as cemented marriage traditions, and these prevailed throughout the investigated period. During the 18th and 19th centuries it was evident that the northern Sami areas were significantly affected by the in-migrated newcomers.  Even though the gender distribution in each parish seemed to matter, analysing the overall marriage pattern illuminated chiefly economic reasons for changes that occurred during the colonisation process. As the in-migration of non-Sami progressed, the age at first marriage increased particularly among Sami women. Furthermore, the results indicates that even though settled Sami probably interacted with non-Sami on a daily basis, and were integrated in their lifestyle, Sami settlers continuously estranged themselves from a complete assimilation and stuck to their Sami culture and traditions. Thus, language and cultural expressions seemed to have mattered when it came to marriage.       The thesis concludes that according to the marriage pattern, economic prerequisites for preferentially the Sami, changed dramatically through the colonisation process. Most affected by the changes were thus the Sami women, who experienced an unfavourable marriage market as the colonisation progressed. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the preferable form of coexistence was still the legal marriage in the area, and the marriage as an institution was of considerable importance, which is also evident since the marriage to some extent still seemed to be a family affair. The study also showed that Sami people in the southern Sami area interacted with non-Sami to a less degree than was the case in the north. However, in the north, the more ethnic complex parishes revealed an integrating population, rather than assimilating. The more ethnically homogenous parishes instead pointed towards an assimilated state among the newcomers.

Denna uppsats undersöker samers utrymme och framställning i svenska dagstidningar. Tidigare forskning visar hur nyhetsmedia innehar en växande makt i att påverka hur olika grupper i samhället uppfattas och behandlas. Bland annat exemplifierar den tidigare forskningen hur urfolk och minoriteter begränsas i sitt mediala utrymme och framställs på ett homogent och fördomsfullt sätt. I föreliggande studie undersöks vilket utrymme den samiska befolkningen får i svensk nyhetsrapportering, vad för typ av samerelaterade nyheter som uppmärksammas samt hur samerna framställs i rapporteringen. Metoden som har använts för att besvara frågeställningarna är en innehållsanalys med både kvalitativa och kvantitativa inslag, där tidningsartiklar från tre svenska dagstidningar har studerats under tidsperioden av ett år. Resultatet visar bland annat hur samerna får ett begränsat medialt utrymme och att när de väl uppmärksammas är det ofta ett stort fokus på kulturella nyheter, medan händelser som kan anses viktiga för den samiska befolkningen marginaliseras. Därefter har resultatet analyserats utifrån den postkoloniala teorin, och därmed kunde samband urskiljas mellan Sveriges historiska relation till den samiska befolkningen och medias framställning av dem. / This paper examines the Sami peoples representation in Swedish newspapers. Previous research show that news media holds a growing power in affecting how different groups are perceived and being treated in today’s society. It shows how indigenous people and minorities are limited in the news media and portrayed in a homogeneous and biased way. This study examines to which extent the Sami population is being seen in the Swedish news media, what kind of Sami related news that are being reported and, how the Sami people are being presented. The method used to answer the thesis questions is a content analysis with complementary qualitative and quantitative elements. Articles published in three Swedish newspapers during the period of one year have in this study been examined. The result indicates that Sami culture is given a lot of space in the reported news, while other important events and questions concerning the Sami people are less visible. The result is analyzed on the basis of postcolonial theory, and connection could thus be distinguished between Sweden's historical relationship with the Sami population and the media's presentation of the group.

Archaeological evidence has become an important part of the argument for the Indigenous peoples of several countries in legal proceedings concerning their rights. This thesis aims to explore how archaeologists and archaeological research are affected by acting as expert witnesses or being used as evidence in these proceedings. Another aim is to explore the differences and similarities between Sweden and Canada in these matters. The main material consists of interviews with seven archaeologists, four Swedish and three Canadian, whose research in various ways have been involved in legal proceedings concerning the rights of Indigenous peoples: The Sámi in Sweden and the Indigenous peoples of Canada. The analysis of the interviews is based on seven themes: awareness, impact, responsibility, experience, objectivity, archaeology and law and consequences. The result shows several things. It shows that the issue of archaeology in legal proceedings is a sensitive matter, and that the archaeologists have somewhat ambivalent feelings about it. It also shows that the involvement of archaeologists and archaeological evidence in these legal proceedings raises discussions about ethics, objectivity, and reputation. One conclusion to be drawn is that there is need for more open discussion and education on the subject.

The objective of this bachelor thesis is on Åsele and Lycksele church towns and early settlements in northern Sweden with the purpose of finding out if the archaeological source material shows the same or different results as the historical source material regarding when they were established, what sort of buildings and activities they had and if the proximity to the Sami people had any effect on the settlers. This is done by doing a comparative analysis between Åsele and Lycksele church towns through the excavated source material from archaeological surveys and their related reports.

Bakgrund: Psykisk ohälsa är ett stort folkhälsoproblem världen över. Bland minoritetsbefolkningar är problematiken omfattande då upplevelser av diskriminering från samhällets sida bidrar till psykisk ohälsa. Den samiska befolkningen har under lång tid blivit hårt drabbad och på grund av de begränsningar i levnadsomständigheter som de inneburit har många haft svårt att kunna bibehålla och leva med en stark samisk identitet.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva psykisk ohälsa hos vuxna samer i Sverige och Norge.    Metod: Litteraturöversikt användes som metod där elva vetenskapliga artiklar inkluderades i resultatet. Databaser som användes var PubMed, DiVA och PsycINFO. Artikelsökningen utfördes även i DIVA som är ett öppet arkiv för bland annat forskningspublikationer. Artiklarna var av både kvalitativt och kvantitativt som analyserades enligt Fribergs fyra analyssteg.  Resultat: Författarna fann tre huvudteman: identitet och livskvalitet, ångest och depression samt svårigheter i att söka vård. Resultatet gav en överblick av den komplexitet som den samiska identitet kan innebära och som många gånger gett och ger upphov till ångestrelaterad problematik. Vidare ger resultatet ett perspektiv över orsaker till hinder i att söka vård.  Diskussion: Diskussionen delas upp i metod- och resultatdiskussion. Diskriminering samt olika typer av identitetskriser som många samer upplevt ökar risken för ångestproblematik diskuterades i resultatdiskussionen. Genom utbildning kring bemötandet av minoritetsgrupper inom sjukvården kan trygga vårdrelationer skapas vilket skapar större förutsättningar för samer att söka vård. Resultatet har även diskuterats utifrån Nordenfelts teori om hälsa, livskvalitet och värdighet. / Background: Mental ill-health is a major public health problem worldwide. Among minority populations, the problem is widespread as experiences of discrimination from society contribute to mental ill-health. The Sami population has for a long time been severely affected and because of the limitations of living conditions that this repression has meant, many have found it difficult to maintain and live with a strong Sami identity.  Aim: The purpose was to describe mental illness in adult Sami in Sweden and Norway.  Method: Literature review was used as a method where eleven scientific articles were included in the results. Databases used were PubMed, DiVA and PsycINFO. The article search was also carried out in DIVA, which is an open archive for example research publications. The articles were of both qualitative and quantitative analysis analyzed according to Friberg's four analysis steps  Results: The authors found three main themes: identity and quality of life, anxiety and depression and difficulties in seeking care. The result gave an overview of the complexity that the Sami identity can entail and which many times have given and gives rise to anxiety-related problems. Furthermore, the result provides a perspective on the causes of obstacles in seeking care.  Discussion: The discussion is divided into method and result discussions. Discrimination and various types of identity crises that many Sami people experience increase the risk of anxiety problems were discussed in the results discussion. By training about the treatment of minority groups within the healthcare sector, secure care relationships can be created, which creates greater conditions for the Sami to seek care. The results have also been discussed on the basis of Nordenfelt's theory of health, quality of life and dignity.

Abstract This ethnological bachelor level essay investigates how suicide is looked upon amongst the Sámi people (in Sweden) from cultural perspectives. The subject is studied by interviewing ten respondents who have experienced suicide in their closeness, mainly within their family at some point between 1980- 2020. Most respondents and all their deceased relatives are of Sámi origin.  The study found that suicide has occurred amongst people with vastly different living conditions, all over the Swedish parts of Sápmi. The deceased consists of 7 men and 3 women, ages 20 – 60. The study analysis focuses upon how the respondents explain their relative’s mental ill-health and suicide, because from an ethnologic perspective a lot of knowledge about the cultural understanding of suicide can be found within their model of explanation.  The results of the study show that the respondents first explanation on the direct question vary widely, it can be mental illness, alcoholism as well as a fragile persona. But by analysing the explanation in it´s cultural context a more complex picture evolves, where their shared experiences as Sámi occur. The study found potential reasons for mental ill-health amongst the Sami such as different postcolonial scars that still today occur in many contexts, ethnic discrimination as well as other difficulties as a minority population. The main issue why Sámi who experience mental ill-health do not seek professional help nor help from within their own group is explained by a tradition of silence within the Sámi culture.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att klargöra om den svenska regleringen av samernas vinterbetesmarker är förenlig med egendomsskyddet i artikel 1 första tilläggsprotokollet Europakonventionen. För att uppfylla det syftet utreds hur den svenska regleringen av samernas vinterbetesmarker ser ut, hur egendomsskyddet i Europakonventionen är utformat och slutligen om den svenska regleringen är förenlig med egendomsskyddet. Eftersom Europakonventionen är ett folkrättsligt traktat som dessutom har till syfte att skydda mänskliga rättigheter påverkas tolkningen av konventionen dels av folkrättsliga regler om traktatstolkning, men också av andra folkrättsliga instrument som exempelvis rör skydd för mänskliga rättigheter. Samerna är ett urfolk, och det finns folkrättsliga regler som skyddar urfolks markrättigheter. För att uppfylla uppsatsens syfte utreds därför frågorna hur Europakonventionen påverkas av folkrätten, samt vilket skydd urfolk har för sina markrättigheter enligt folkrätten. Utredningen av den svenska regleringen av samernas vinterbetesmarker visar att det är mycket svårt och kostsamt för samerna att i domstol styrka att de har rätt till vinterbete. Detta leder till rättsförluster eftersom samerna inte har råd att gå i svaromål i tvister rörande sin rätt till vinterbete. De områden där samerna kan låta sina renar beta om vintern minskar på grund av detta, vilket påverkar rennäringen som är en viktig del av den samiska kulturen negativt. När de folkrättsliga reglerna för urfolks markrättigheter utreds visar det sig också att den svenska regleringen av samernas vinterbetesmarker inte ger samerna ett skydd vilket är lika starkt som vad som följer av den folkrättsliga standarden. Utredningen av de tolkningsregler som är tillämpliga vid tolkningen av Europakonventionen visar att de folkrättsliga reglerna om urfolks markrättigheter är högst relevanta för hur konventionen ska tolkas. När egendomsskyddet i artikel 1 första tilläggsprotokollet tolkas med beaktande av de folkrättsliga reglerna blir det tydligt att den svenska regleringen av samernas vinterbetesmarker inte är förenlig med Europakonventionen. / The purpose of this thesis is to ascertain whether the Swedish rules concerning Sami reindeer winter pastures is compatible with the right of property provided for in Article 1 of the First Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). To fulfill this purpose, the rules concerning Sami winter pastures and the right to property in the ECHR will be examined, and finally it will be ascertained whether the Swedish rules are in harmony with the right of property in the ECHR. Because the ECHR as a treaty is part of public international law, and since its purpose is to protect human rights its interpretation can be affected by both international rules for treaty interpretation as well as other international law instruments. The Sami, as an indigenous people, have certain land rights according to several different international instruments. To fulfill the purpose of this thesis in a satisfactory manner will therefore require an examination of how the ECHR is affected by other rules in public international law, as well as the protection international law offers for indigenous peoples’ land rights. When the Swedish rules concerning Sami land rights are examined, it becomes apparent that it is very difficult and costly for the Sami to prove their right to winter pastures in court. Because of this the Sami oftentimes are not able to afford the legal costs necessary for them to adequately protect their right to reindeer winter pastures. Consequently, the areas which can be used by the Sami for reindeer herding during winters are shrinking. This affects the traditional Sami occupation of reindeer husbandry, which is an important part of Sami culture negatively. The examination of indigenous land rights under international law shows that the Swedish rules are not up to par with international standards. The examination of how the ECHR should be interpreted makes it clear that indigenous rights under international law are relevant for the interpretation of the convention. Finally, when the right to property in the ECHR is examined with regard to international rules concerning indigenous land rights it is clear that the Swedish rules concerning Sami reindeer winter pastures are not compatible with the ECHR.

Introduction. This study investigates the needs of the Sami people when it comes to the local library and its functions and activities. The Sami are recogniced as the indiginous people of Sweden, and was historically put under the stress of colonisation by the Swedish government, causing a loss of language, culture and ultimatly damaged the feelings of identity in parts of the Sami population. Method. With the help of 3 focus groups made up of members of local Sami associations, this study gathered the opinions of the Sami, when it comes to their local library and what they wish the library would do for them. The discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed. Results. The Sami had a clear idea of their needs and demands, and could state them clearly. They wished for more litterature in the Sami languages, more litterature with parallel languages: Sami/Swedish side by side to aid in reading, more audio books, more cultural events and a bigger exposure of the Sami to the public. They also wished for activities aimed at the Swedes, to educate them about the history and struggles, life and culture of the Sami. Conclution. The local libraries of Sweden have a big potential to fulfil the needs and wishes of the Sami. They need to consider not only activities aimed directly at the Sami, but to an equal amount activities aimed at the Swedes, to educate them about all things Sami. These educational activities can and should take place in all parts of Sweden, not only in communities with a visible Sami population. This is a two years master’s theses in Library and Information Science.